I recently purchased a Marlin 1894C lever action rifle in .357 mag as a companion piece to my several revolvers. The lever is stiff--no way to rack it without taking the gun off target. Other that sitting in front of the TV and racking it a few thousand times, is there any way to loosen this baby up?

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Pray for Gridlock

COWBOY ACTION FIREARMS - LONG HUNTER SHOOTING SUPPLY

Contact him. He is the most knowledgeable.

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Have guns...will shoot'em.

That is a junk gun you need to immediately send it to me for a break in period, which I will galdly do for you. It may take several years to do that, but I am willing to do that!!! :

I have a 1894C and I love it. Just work it some. It all depends what is tight depends on what you need to do to loosen it up.

John

What's wrong with sitting in front of the TV and racking it a few thousand times?

Just be sure you're watching Lucas McCain when you're doing it!

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Even older, even crankier....

Acme super penetrating lever action break in lube. $29.95 per .5 oz plus s/h. Allow 4-6 week for delivery.

Mine was tight also, be sure the bolt is oiled and just work it some.

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Still Running Against the Wind

marlinowners.com

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War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

Look on the right side of the barrel near where it meets the receiver. Tell me if it has a REP stamped there, or JM.
The JM stamped guns were made in North Haven and the REP guns are not! The BARRELS are still stamped "made in North Haven"...they somehow got permission to keep them that way, at least for now. But the REP stamped guns are not made in north Haven and are bad news. If you do go to marlin owners forum you will see rant forums with all kinds of problems that are too extensive to go into here. Yours is one of em though!

Marlin sold out and the REP guns are not working out well. Remington has them now and has screwed everything up. If you are unlucky to have bought one of them, just take it to a gunsmith to have it worked on.... don't send it back.

If it has the JM stamping same deal, as the Remington folks have screwed up the leverguns so bad, that awhile back they actually stopped production ( of leverguns, except the 22 ) until they get things under control, which I figure will be the day after never.

Also....if you are handy....do this.... they work like magic after and feed 357's or 38s flawlessly.
Widdermatic - YouTube
That's how mine work! Be careful if you play this way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI3OSo4nugo

here is where, if you are handy.....scroll down to the Marlin Part...and widdermatic and there is good info and diagrams etc.

http://marauder.homestead.com/rifles.html

IIRC the "professionals" would use carbide powder or some other darkening agent, coat the working parts, work it a few times, where the darkening agent had worn off marked the high spots that needed work.
Then they would use a very TINY amount of grinding compound-emphasis on the word TINY-on the high spots, work the action till it felt smooth, then clean thoroughly

Well, mine has the REP stamp so that is a little disturbing to read. I've only fired a hundred rounds or so but have had no problems. It's very accurate. I'll jump over to the Marlin Owners site and see what that's all about. Marlin's warranty is five years but the store that I purchased from offers their own lifetime warranty on all new and some used firearms. Hopefully won't have to use either.

jspick--thanks for your kind offer! I'm glad to hear that you're happy with yours. Hopefully my experience will be similar.

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Pray for Gridlock

Check out "witches brew bore cleaner". Midway for one carries the stuff.

It is a mild abrasive polishing compound & has done wonders for me when smoothing the rails on bolt actions. Just be sure to flush & clean thoroughly after you cycle the action to smooth it up.

Jerry-

I was about positive your was going to have the REP stamp, as I have heard of your problem and also handled rifles with that problem.

You are going to find some differing opinions on how to handle the problem at that other site I mentioned.
I think I know what is going on, and personally would bring it to a local smith to fix. They are sending stuff back to owners worse then it went back for repair.

If you work the lever REAL REAL lightly..... does it fail to close the last little bit?
But if you lever it with authority it is o.k.?

You will be discouraged after reading over there. ( the other forum) "Marlin" has gone totally downhill and doesn't show any signs of getting better that I know of.

Remington at one point wanted a gun out every 100 or 120 seconds if you were employee. No can do.

Look CLOSELY at the fit and coloring of your wood. If it fits perfectly and matches, consider yourself lucky.
Look at ALL screws. Any buggered up? Sights straight?

All the Wood on Marlins was final fitted BY HAND in North haven, and now they buy their wood from somewhere in MO and it just gets put on without final fitting and you see spaces and other horrible things...

I will end it there, but just say that I would bring it to a gunsmith local if you know a good one, and have him take care of the problem. It isn't a hard fix.

When you read over there you will find out you are nowhere NEAR alone on this. A few guys actually got good stuff and some got good return service, but the horror stories outweigh the good, and they are a good bunch over there. Loyal to Marlin and not many would buy a REP stamped gun...( at this time anyway) not because Marlin changed and they are crying, but because of the MANY issues like yours, and far far worse.

Funny thing is it all could have been easily avoided.
Oh well.

Good luck and let me know how it works out...PM me or something .....

ohiojerry,

Do not let the REP stamp scare you. A lot of Marlin owners have a vendetta against Remington because Remingtons parent company bought out Marlin.

There were quite a few JM stamped Marlins the last few years of Kenna family ownership that were awlful as well as the first few months of Remington produced Marlins that were pretty bad.

If it shoots good it doesn't matter what the proof stamp on it is. The offer still stands! But I know you won't part with it. I love mine!

John